Dedicated to Retiring Rep. Peter Roskam from Illinois’ 6th Congressional District

Peter Roskam does not say much to his constituents about the war against Iraq. He doesn’t seem to think that we are concerned and doesn’t even  list it in the issues section on his House web site. He apparently doesn’t believe that he is accountable to his district regarding the war. This is a mistake and a big part of the reason that Roskam will be defeated in his re-election bid later this year.

Roskam did, helpfully, this week, with his votes on HR 2642, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008, go on record as to precisely where he stands on Iraq:

• Peter Roskam is OK with leaving our troops in Iraq indefinitely
• Peter Roskam is unwilling to have Congress reclaim the war powers bestowed on it by the constitution, preferring to allow President Bush to engage in whatever military adventure he desires
• Peter Roskam is OK with the continuing to allow the Iraqi government to avoid sharing fully in the costs of reconstruction - that’s what American taxpayers are for
• It is fine with Peter Roskam if American troops in Iraq are charged more for fuel that Iraqi troops are charged - we have plenty of money
• Peter Roskam opposes any requirement that troops be combat-ready before deployment to Iraq and does not believe that Pentagon-established guidelines defining how long troops should be deployed should be enforced
• Peter Roskam believes that U.S. contractors operating in Iraq should enjoy immunity from prosecution for violations of U.S. law and opposes extending the statute of limitations for fraud committed against U.S. taxpayers during the war.
• Peter Roskam thinks permanent bases in Iraq are just fine
• Peter Roskam does not believe there should be restrictions on the practice of torture

A news item at Peter Roskam’s House web site dated May 12 announces that Roskam was honored yesterday by Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights for having “secured” $190,000 for their new “no-wait” emergency room. At the same time, the hospital dedicated the ER’s radiation facilities to the late Rep. Henry Hyde, Roskam’s predecessor for his work on behalf of the advancement of medical care in the district”, referring, of course, to his tireless efforts to interject the federal government into the relationship between women and their physicians. But I digress.

Adventist Health System, which operates the hospital in Glendale Heights, as well as others in Bolingbrook, LaGrange, and Hinsdale is one of the largest faith-based health systems in the country. According to the hospital’s web site they are in the midst of a $7 million transformation of their emergency department. Why this $190,000 grant secured by Roskam was necessary is unclear. Its a drop in the bucket relative to the size of the project. It is not a drop in the bucket relative to the taxes I pay, however. I figure its as about 8.6 years of my tax dollars, or about 2.5 years of my labor. Not sure why all that money should be going to Adventist. Seems like they could be paying for this. Maybe $190,000 is the cost of getting someone to name something after Henry Hyde. Or maybe this is just a $190,000 donation to Roskams re-election campaign from us taxpayers.

I am not opposed to earmarks for good purposes. But this one disturbs me for two reasons.

First, because Roskam has spent so much time complaining about the earmark process. In fact, as I have noted previously, Roskam joined Reagan 21, a caucus whose members pledged to end all earmarks. Seems a tad hypocritical.

Second, and most important, Roskam is using this earmark to mislead voters when it comes to his record on health care.  Roskam is quoted in the article as saying:

“Ensuring access to quality, affordable health care is one of the biggest concerns of families in my district,” said Roskam. “This is a perfect example of why I went to Congress. Advocating on behalf of the health and well being of my constituents is one of my greatest responsibilities and I am proud to have had a small part in bringing advanced health care to Glendale Heights.”:

But voters in the 6th should understand that Roskam’s legislative record shows him to have been a consistent opponent of Democratic efforts to provide greater access to health care for residents of the district. Peter Roskam has voted repeatedly against the expansion of SCHIP, the children’s health insurance program. Roskam has also voted against parity for mental health services in group health plans.  And Roskam has even voted against funding for improved health services for veterans.

So if you live in the 6th and lack acces to affordable health care, don’t be fooled. Roskam has done nothing in his term to help you and shows no inclination to do anything in the future.

Read what Roskam’s opponent, Jill Morgenthaler, has to say about access to health care here.

John Hagee, the creepy evangelical pastor who’s support presidential candidate and Peter Roskam ally John McCain so ardently courted, today apologized to Catholics for his anti-catholic remarks which included calling the church “The Great Whore” and accusing it of supporting Adolph Hitler. Hagee’s apology was immediately accepted on behalf of Catholics everywhere by Bill Donahue, head of the Catholic league, who declared the matter closed. This presumably clears the way for Pastor Hagee to refocus on his core ministry of hating gays, Jews, Muslims, and women.

Following Mr. Donahue’s lead, and on behalf of all patriotic white Americans, I am officially accepting Barack Obama’s explanations of his affiliation with Jeremiah Wright, and declaring the matter closed.

We can now take up the real work at hand: electing leaders who will will begin to undo the disastrous legacy of 8 years under George Bush, and not men like John McCain and Peter Roskam who wish to sustain it.

This is the first interview with Jill Morgenthaler that I’ve seen. I like her. She seemed a bit uncomfortable but quite intelligent and articulate.

Jill clearly states a number of positions: clear goals with time-line for withdrawal in Iraq; dialogue with Iran; supports the standards of “No Child Left Behind” but opposes unfunded mandates and vouchers; pro-choice, abortion a matter for a woman and her doctor to decide; favors civil unions but opposed to same-sex marriage; says she is a gun owner and supportive of individual right to bear arms but believes in sensible controls such as on armour-piercing bullets and assault weapons; favors tighter border security, especially on the northern border.

She seems to present a clearly positive alternative to Peter Roskam.

Jill committed to coming back on the program for a face to face discussion with Roskam if he will agree. How about it Peter?

Here’s a link to Jeff Berkowitz’s post about the interview.

Peter Roskam was proud today to trumpet his crowning legislative achievement, the pinnacle of his career in Washington, the introduction of H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008. (Actually, he says the bill was passed but I don’t see that in my usual references today).

Now, as Roskam candidly relates on his House website, this was actually a Democratic bill that passed. But he had previously thunk up many of its important points in H.R. 4036, the Cents and Sensibility Act of 2007, which early readers of this blog may remember. Apparently, the House Democrats were too embarassed to pass a bill with such a silly name so they stole Peter’s ideas and put them in their own bill.

Peter’s idea is a decent one. It currently costs us 1.7 cents to manufacture a penny, which is, for the moment at least, valued at 1 cent. The bill provides for changing the weight and metallic composition of the penny to save us money in it’s production. Peter figures we can save 1 billion dollars… over the next 10 years.

The problem with this is that Peter is stopping up a leaky faucet when he should be attending to the Niagara falls that is the military occupation of Iraq.

The one billion dollars that Peter saves with his pennies over 10 years we spend on one bad day in Iraq.

So here’s the deal, Peter. We want you to stop screwing around and stop the fucking war. Bring our troops home and stop spending our hard-earned tax dollars to rain down death and destruction on people half way across the world, most of whom don’t have the wherewithal or even the desire to do us any harm.
And while you’re at it, we don’t want to you to build any fucking golf courses or shopping malls in the fucking Green Zone.

What do you do if you are a cocky, first-term Republican Congressman who has hitched his wagon securely to the most unpopular President in American history, and now, as the time for re-election draws near, you realize you are in trouble?

What do you do if you have spent your first term in office ignoring the real needs of your constituents in order to cater to the wishes of the fat cats who paid for your campaign?

Well, if you are Peter Roskam, you come up with some lame gimmick to try and convince the residents of your district that you give a damn.

Roskam recently announced, in front of an auditorium virtually devoid of an audience, his “There Ought to Be a Law” competition, asking his constituents to go to his website and submit their legislative ideas. Roskam will then pick the top five ideas and allow his constituents to vote on which should be drafted into a bill by Roskam.

Roskam rationalizes the contest this way:

“As a new member of Congress, I have learned first-hand what most 6th District residents already know, Washington is broken. Partisan politics have hamstrung Congress’ ability to find solutions to the most pressing problems our nation faces.

“The constituents I represent are reasonable folks with sound ideas – and it’s time to send a little more 6th District solutions to Washington.

This, of course, is ridiculous. What is broken, what isn’t working, is Roskam. Roskam has been presented with a wealth of good ideas during his first term:

• A fair minimum wage
• Equal pay for equal work
• Non discrimination in employment
• Help for homeowners struggling with out of control mortgage payments
• Tougher standards to prevent workplace injuries
• Development of alternative energy sources
• Ending the practice of torture
• Providing health coverage to uninsured Illinois children
• Congressional ethics reform
• Health and employment services for returning veterans

To name just a few. Democrats in Congress, working for change, have proposed them all. Roskam has opposed them all for partisan reasons and to please those who lavish campaign contributions upon him. Roskam has a lot of nerve complaining about partisanship.

Nevertheless, I shall humor my Congressman. Here are my 5 modest ideas for your consideration, Peter:

1. De-fund the present occupation of Iraq and provide for an orderly withdrawal of American troops from that country.
2. Reclaim Congressional war powers and act to prevent the President from initiating a new military conflict with Iraq.
3. Draft articles of impeachment against the President and Vice President for their illegal use of domestic surveillance, their illegal practice of torture and rendition to torture, for their politicization of the justice department, for outing an inteligence officer, etc. etc. etc.
4. Definitively outlaw the practice of torture and of warrant-less domestic surveillance.
5. Sign on in support of the new GI bill to help the men and women who have put their lives in jeopardy in Iraq and Afghanistan for the good of us all and are returning to face unemployment and economic and medical hardships.

So that’s my entry, Peter. I’m afraid that if I enter them on your web site they won’t see the light of day. So I’m challenging you here, publicly, to take them up. I know from my logs that your office reads this blog.

You will probably label my ideas as extreme or nutty. But I know that I am not alone among your constituents in thinking this way. I encourage my fellow residents of the 6th to really speak their minds and see if you are for real.

For my part, if you do these 5 things, I promise I’ll vote for you in November.